2015-humanities-symposium-program

Maggie Monteverde, and a Teaching Center lunch discussion for Belmont faculty on teaching with food.. | wedgewood conference center, wac 4094 Study Abroad Panel: Food, Culture, and Learn

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belmont university | september 28 – october 5, 2015

Many Tables Fayre:: Cuisine in Culture & Communit◊

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Welcome to the 14th Annual Belmont Humanities Symposium This year’s event addresses the broad topic of food, a concern that touches our lives in myriad ways— abstract as well as material, miniscule as well as grandiose

Our title, “Many Tables Fayre,” comes from one of English literature’s most

celebrated epics, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, wherein two valiant knights

tour Alma, the soul of mankind represented allegorically as both castle and as human body As the knights enter what amounts to the digestive tract, they are “brought into a stately hall, / Wherein were many tables fayre dispred.” This part of their journey represents a metaphorical descent into the site of medieval passion, where both Diet and Appetite reside

This year’s symposium takes up similar themes of diet, appetite, and consumption by examining cuisine and its related food practices Drawing on multiple perspectives— some local, others much more global—the symposium explores cuisine as a common denominator for the humanities Food unites us at the same time that its intricacies provide useful distinctions between cultures and communities We eat to live, but

we also live to eat and to cook, oftentimes in markedly different fashion As the focus of artistic representation, cultural commentary, and even scientific inquiry, food practices unquestionably shape what it means to be human

Alongside these foundational ideas, the symposium addresses the “many tables fayre” at which people may, or may not, have a place In fact, the last word in our title has special social resonance, for it invokes a range of connected connotations, including social justice (the “fairness” of our food practices), types of food (local

“fare” for instance) and even commodification (the “fare” we pay for our food) This year, we have notable events the weeks prior to the symposium proper, including an international food film festival, organized by Dr Maggie Monteverde, and a Teaching Center lunch discussion for Belmont faculty on teaching with food Our symposium events include numerous individual presentations, faculty and student panels, service events, a cooking class, a cooking demonstration, a

writing workshop, and a writing contest The symposium will begin with this year’s Monteverde Plenary Address, given by Dr Francesca Muccini and entitled “Italian Cuisine and Cultural Identity.” Our featured speakers include local health coaches, Elizabeth Moore and Rachael Moore; acclaimed Nashville chef, Jeremy Barlow; artist and food author, Michael Krondl; and two noted professors connected to food studies, Dr Alice Julier and Dr Marcie Cohen Ferris

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Monday, September 28

monteverde plenary address

Italian Cuisine and Cultural Identity

dr francesca muccini, department of foreign languages, belmont university

As suggested by David M Kaplan, “food taps pleasure and anxiety, memories and desires, attachment

or alienation from our heritage It does not determine an identity, but it is a marker of identity.” What

is the identity marked by Italian food? Is there such a thing as authentic Italian food? And what does

“authentic Italian food” mean to someone who is an outsider to this national or cultural community? What are the politics of claiming authenticity, of speaking from a position of knowledge and authority,

to define the legitimacy of a particular cultural production? What does it mean to speak of the authenticity of culinary practices when traditions within all cultures are constantly changing? Dr Muccini will address these questions with particular attention to the concepts of tradition vs innovation

ca 10–10:50 a.m | wedgewood conference center, wac 4094

Study Abroad Panel: Food, Culture, and Learning

belmont study abroad students, facilitated by dr maggie monteverde

Please join a panel of Belmont study abroad students to discuss their experiences with different foods, cultures, and learning abroad

al 11–11:50 a.m | wedgewood conference center, wac 4094

Hot, Cold, Wet, Dry: A Humourous Glimpse of the Later Medieval Italian Diet

dr joseph byrne, honors program, belmont university

As with modern medicine, late medieval physicians ascribed numerous healthy and deleterious effects to different classes of foodstuff As today, doctors acted as dieticians, preparing general and personalized regimens of diet, exercise, rest, and other behaviors that were meant to maintain or restore good health But doctors then were wedded to the humoural system of human physiology, which presented a very different set of relationships of food to health than are accepted today This presentation will introduce some foundations and variations of late medieval Italian health regimens

as outlined in medical, dietary, and cookery literature of the period from around 1250 to about 1500

Dr Byrne has drawn material from his several books on the period’s medical history and his work in

progress, The World of the Italian Renaissance: An Encyclopedia of Daily Life (due 2016).

al 1–1:50 p.m | wedgewood conference center, wac 4094

Rice Agriculture in Japan: Culture, Geography, and Nihonjinron

dr jonathan thorndike, honors program, belmont university

Rice occupies an important place in Japanese culture, history, society, and political economy Rice is the staple of every Japanese meal, and Japanese farmers pride themselves on producing the highest quality rice in the world with distinctive traits unique to every available acre of soil The Japanese word

“gohan” literally means cooked rice, but rice is so important to Japanese cuisine that when one says

“asagohan” or “yuuhan” (meaning breakfast or dinner), one is literally saying “the morning rice” or “the evening rice.” Japan’s rice market is highly competitive, but it is protected by tariffs, powerful pro-farming lobbyists, and assumptions that nowhere else in the world can grow rice as well Dr Thorndike will examine the history of rice cultivation, geography, and the current state of rice imports and exports

in Japan In addition, different qualities of rice will be discussed and tasted

ca 2–2:50 p.m | wedgewood conference center, wac 4094

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From Barley Bread to Haute Cuisine: The Epicurean Ethic of Pleasure Evolves

dr mélanie walton, department of philosophy, belmont university

An “epicurean” is a disciple of either the Hellenistic philosopher Epicurus, or the gourmet, luxurious life Epicurus is the father of hedonism, the philosophy that places pleasure as the highest good—but

is still a strange forebear to epicurean devotions of magazines, digital brands, and apps resplendent with glossies of Le Cordon Bleu demi-glacé veal, glistening crème brûlée, and sparkling crêpes Suzettes served flambé Epicurus’ school, The Garden, served its pleasures ascetically, barley bread and warm water, and his hedonistic ethics yielded a profound political egalitarianism, free education and equal rights for women and slaves Do we see a gastronome return to social justice? Understanding how Epicurus’ hedonism grounds his politics can illuminate a path of excellence [arête, virtue] for today’s luxury

“Caribbean Cuisine” Cooking Class at Casa Azafrán with Chef Sanchia Chanko

coordinated by dr david julseth, department of foreign languages,

belmont university

Please join Belmont students and faculty for a hands-on cooking class followed by a sit-down meal and conversation at Casa Azafrán The class will be taught (in English) by Sanchi Chanko, who received her culinary training in her home country, the southernmost island of Trinidad and Tobago The event will include a tour of the community center and an explanation of the work that is done there to support Nashville’s immigrant community After the tour, all participants will get hands-on training in the kitchen and then share a meal together

About ten minutes from campus, the Casa Azafrán Community Center on Nolensville Pike near I-440

is a collaborative that brings together nonprofit partners committed to social, economic and civic integration of immigrant families and other economically vulnerable communities Casa Azafrán houses offices for Conexión Américas as well as United Neighborhood Health Services, Family and Children’s Service, Justice for Our Neighbors of Tennessee, and The Global Education Center, among others In addition, there is a Community Kitchen (called “Mesa Komal”) that is a commercial shared-cost kitchen with the infrastructure and technical assistance needed to start and grow area businesses such as local caterers and food trucks

Seating for the September 28 event is limited to 10 faculty, staff, or community members and 10 Belmont students Prior registration and payment (cash or check made out to “Conexión Américas”) must be submitted to Brenda Hancock (WAC 3034) by Monday, September 21

cost: $25 faculty or staff/$15 students 5–7:30 p.m | casa azafrán

Note: If the September 28 class fills, a second class will be available for sign-up The class must have a minimum of 15 participants (maximum of 20) The second class, given sufficient sign-ups, will be held

on Saturday, October 3, from 4–6:30 Open to Belmont faculty, staff, students, or community members, the second class will cost $25 regardless of status

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Tuesday, September 29

Country’s Kitchen: Country Singers and Their Cookbooks

dr sarah blomeley, department of english, belmont university

For decades, many country stars have enjoyed success as celebrity pseudo-chefs, authoring cookbooks marketed toward their fans Kitty Wells, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr., Tricia Yearwood, Martina McBride: all have (ostensibly) written cookbooks full of simple country fare But besides providing recipes for Loretta Lynn’s Tater Cakes, Kenny Rogers’s Pineapple Chicken Cheese Melt, and Zac Brown’s Revival Peach Cobbler, these cookbooks also allow country singers to manipulate their public personas—particularly in terms of class and gender performance

Cookbooks as Life Stories/Life Stories as Cookbooks

dr cynthia cox, managing editor at ohlinger publishing services

Drawing on folkloristics’ concept of the “life story” and recent foodways scholarship, this presentation examines cookbooks and recipes as autobiography and cultural history We will discuss cookbook-memoirs by home cooks and professional chefs (Margaret Yardley Potter, Ree Drummond, Hubert

Keller), the Bravo reality competition Top Chef, and the children’s picture books Bon Appetit! and

A Fine Dessert

The Stories Supermarkets Tell

panel discussion: dr douglas murray, dr marcia mcdonald,

and dr charmion gustke, department of english, belmont university

Cultural geographers have taught us to be aware of the narratives which sites tell; Michael Pollan’s

classic, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, has included insightful analysis of the “supermarket pastoral”

narratives told by Whole Foods This panel will unpack the narratives of chains like Trader Joe’s, Kroger, Publix, and Whole Foods in a manner that is profusely illustrated—and guaranteed to change your shopping experience Dr Douglas Murray will elaborate on the narrative told by Trader Joe’s;

Dr Marcia McDonald will examine the Florida-based narrative of Publix and the anti-narrative of Kroger’s Dr Charmion Gustke will address a Whole Foods narrative, discussing the politics and process

of “USDA” organic, and Conscious Capitalism (both the book and the lifestyle) by John Mackey

(Whole Foods cofounder) and Raj Sisodia

Seeking a Small, Good Thing: A Non-Foodie Bakes Bread

dr linda holt, department of english, belmont university

After being coerced into a bread-baking session with friends, a declared non-foodie finds herself surprisingly moved by the act of kneading, shaping, baking, and ultimately eating breads of all shapes and sizes And as she eats, she cannot escape comparisons to one of her favorite short stories: Raymond Carver’s “A Small, Good Thing.” This presentation weaves discussion of Dr Holt’s bread-making experience with literary analysis of “A Small, Good Thing,” emphasizing that Carver’s minimalism masterfully captures the random nature of tragedy in our lives and posits that the only real antidote to grief is each other

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The Burguerillas: Finding the Best Burger in the World

panel discussion: dr joel overall, dr natalia pelaz, dr mitch mccoy,

dr jayme yeo, dr jason lovvorn, dr robbie pinter, and dr susan finch

In this panel discussion, Belmont faculty tackle issues and topics they have encountered during their hamburger club meetings around town Panelists seek to explore issues of culture, food ethics, identity, hospitality, and other topics through discussion and via a multimedia presentation on the group website: burguerillas.com

Culinary Storytelling: Will Work for Food

panel: emily arno, jill melton, danielle atkins, and owen clark

Food is much more than what’s for dinner—it builds community, impacts history, and shapes identity

It also takes passion to make it your life’s work Jill Melton, editor of Edible Nashville; Danielle Atkins,

professional food photographer; and Owen Clark, Chef de Cuisine at Rolf and Daughters, sit down with

Emily Arno, food writer and former editor of Relish, to discuss how they find inspiration and use their

chosen entrepreneurial professions to tell beautiful, meaningful stories through words, food, and film

featured presentation

The End of Dieting: Healthy, Sustainable Living On A Budget

elizabeth moore and rachael moore, co-founders of moorenutritious

Paleo vs gluten-free? Vegan or plant-based? Low-fat or low-carb? In a day and age when sorting through fad diets and contradictory nutrition information is as difficult as paying off your Whole Foods credit card, it’s hard to know what to believe Elizabeth Moore and Rachael Moore, holistic health coaches, will talk food, diet and how to eat sustainably and cost effectively on any budget

ppg 6–7:30 p.m | wedgewood conference center, wac 4094

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Wednesday, September 30

Chefs Can Save the World

jeremy barlow, chef at sloco

A discussion of the issues in our food system leads to the awareness that food is the center of the web

of society Through ‘fixing’ the food system we can tackle many other problems we currently face in our country We can show how our choices have a much greater effect than just the receipt at the counter

or the impact on our waistline

Local Practices, Global Effects

panel discussion with jeremy barlow and jeremy lekich

Please join two speakers from the Humanities Symposium for a panel discussion on food practices, local awareness, and larger considerations of sustainability

Foodscaping: Stop Mowing, Start Growing or

Foodscaping: Creative Food Solutions Through Landscaping

jeremy lekich, nashville foodscapes

Foodscaping is an alternative to conventional landscaping, integrating food and ecological design into our everyday landscapes Guided by aesthetics and natural systems, foodscaping encourages lush, vibrant landscapes that offer forage for bees and butterflies, seed and bugs for birds, mulch for microbes, and homegrown produce for humans In this presentation, Mr Lekich will discuss the philosophy and design principles behind foodscaping, as well as look at examples from Nashville and beyond

Turnip for What? Healthy Food on Campus

panel discussion: belmont university slow food club

This student panel, hosted by Belmont’s Slow Food club, explores the role of food in our society today from a college student’s standpoint Topics include the origins of the Slow Food movement, fermentation, the cultural aspect of food, and food on campus

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DIY Food: A How-To Primer for College Students

panel discussion: cultivate student group, belmont university

Even though residence halls and apartments are generally not the best places to be a gardener, it’s still possible to take control of some aspects of your food production while you’re in college This session will focus on the pragmatics of growing and storing some of your own food given the limitations of college student life

ppg 2–2:50 p.m | wedgewood conference center, wac 4094

Heroes of the Belly: Odysseus and Falstaff

dr marcia mcdonald, department of english, belmont university

Dr McDonald will examine two iconic literary figures whose actions and identity are defined in significant ways by food Odysseus laments that the needs of the belly trump sorrow and story (and even good judgment); many of the adventures and the long recovery of home require navigating food and rituals of hospitality The heroic struggle is first against the basic need for food Falstaff appears to

be Odysseus’s opposite: indulgence of the belly is his credo, and avoidance of the battlefield his aim

He plays the belly as a foil to Hal’s aspirations to be a notable king, and not even death undoes his impression Dr McDonald uncovers the uncanny way that these apparent opposite characters take us back to questions about how that first human impulse (“feed me”) (ok, maybe it is “hold me” but “feed me” is right up there!) shapes moral and existential choices

“I was cyber-bullying my niece on Instagram yesterday, and I literally ate 15

mini-muffins I’m so bad”: Food, Bodies, and Postfeminist Culture

meg tully, ph.d student, university of iowa

Popular feminist figureheads Amy Schumer, Mindy Kaling, and Lena Dunham have many things in common, but they are particularly lauded for bringing more average body sizes to television Given journalists’ obsession with their weight, it is no surprise that food and drink play large roles in Schumer,

Kaling, and Dunham’s television series (Inside Amy Schumer, The Mindy Project, and Girls, respectively)

Meg Tully examines how each woman uses her television series as a platform to link women’s

relationships to food to our current postfeminist culture

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Thursday, October 1

Heroic Feasting

dr maggie monteverde, department of english, belmont university

No, this isn’t a presentation on eating competitions! Indeed, one could say it’s an anti-competitive-eating talk, or rather that Dr Monteverde will be examining the role feasting plays in establishing and maintaining community in heroic literature She will also be looking at how such communal gatherings can serve as occasions for both war- and peace-making because of the way in which they prompt storytelling, boasting, celebration, and memorializing—with surprisingly little emphasis on the actual food consumed Join Dr Monteverde to learn why the consumption of food in a communal setting has traditionally been so much more than an occasion for gluttony

al 10–10:50 p.m | wedgewood conference center, wac 4094 sentation

Sugar and Show: Conspicuous Consumption in the Age of The Medici

michael krondl

Fancy foods have long been used to demonstrate wealth, privilege, and power, nowhere more so than in the Renaissance courts of Italy and France Sugar was the luxury ingredient par excellence, not merely due to its expense but also because of its sculptural properties The ruling classes commissioned renowned artists and architects to create sugar sculpture and created whole place settings of sugar paste Fashionable recipes both sweet and savory contained large doses of sugar Some meals were made entirely of sweets In the seventeenth century, as sugar lost its exclusivity, Europe’s powerful found new ways to show off their social status

Food or Fodder?

dr noel boyle, department of philosophy, belmont university,

and jessica boyle

Noel and Jessica Boyle are parents of a severely disabled fifteen-year-old boy, Ciaran, who has been strictly tube fed since he was four years old Building on their experiences parenting a disabled toddler who loved to eat, they will offer reflections on the importance of food in establishing a sense

of community, identity, and inclusion in both the family and humanity more broadly Drawing from what they learned feeding their son boxed formula for a decade, they will explain the ways in which commercial boxed formulas systematically undermine the role of food in culture and life Finally, they will share the method they have developed for cooking whole-food tube-feeding formula, partially mitigating the effects of Ciaran’s inability to chew and swallow

Rhythm is Originally the Rhythm of the Feet

dr gary mcdowell, department of english, belmont university

We eat We run We gain We lose We generally do two of these four things simultaneously For Dr McDowell, it was eating and gaining But then something changed: his health He started running and losing His connection to food became less important than his connection to his body In this lyric essay,

“Rhythm is Originally the Rhythm of the Feet,” Dr McDowell explores how he ran away over 100 pounds and ran toward something greater

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featured speakers panel

michael krondl, alice julier, and marcie cohen ferris

Three of the symposium’s featured speakers will offer general observations and respond to questions from the moderator and from the audience with regard to food history and cultural practices related to food

al 2–2:50 | wedgewood conference center, wac 4094

Turning the Tables: Exploring Animosity and Deception When Dining with Enemies

graduate student panel discussion: meredith harrell, paul spilburg,

carmen watts, alyssa wynans — masters students in the department of english at belmont university

Many philosophers—Derrida, Kant, etc.—have explored the significance of hospitality in our everyday lives Hospitality happens all the time, in every single interaction between human beings, no matter if these interactions are friendly or not Given that hospitality always takes place between a host and a guest and that there is always an element of strangeness associated with these acts, it is not surprising that they often take place over food A first date, a new neighbor moving in across the way, a meeting with a client—each of these situations puts people on edge, out of their comfort zone and, food has

a way of putting them at ease And why not? The consumption of food is a universal need Despite differences in flavors and tastes, eating is foreign to no one But what happens when the people in these situations are not merely strangers, but enemies? What would happen if Dumbledore shared a meal with Voldemort, if Adam offered Satan a drink? In a series of short essays, this panel will explore these situations: what leads up to them, how they are organized, and what happens in their aftermath

The Moral Entrepreneurship of Cooks

dr alice julier, chatham university

In contemporary contestations in the field of food, chefs (professionalized cooks with public personas) have asserted a different and larger role in the field of cultural production One critical factor is the relationship between their public moral stances and scientific and systematically acquired knowledge Such knowledge includes agricultural facts, systematic observation and comparison, chemical and material experimentation, and repeated study and testing For veracity and cultural power, each of these examples relies upon what Jacques Ellul called “technique,” practices related to a systematic and efficient subordination of the natural world Dr Julier will examine how such a concept operates in the modern world of chefs as a means of asserting power

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